The Ukrainian delegation began its official visit to Saudi Arabia with a meeting with nearly a hundred local entrepreneurs. During the meeting in Riyadh on 16 February 2025, the First Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine, Minister of Economy of Ukraine Yuliia Svyrydenko presented promising investment opportunities in energy, agriculture, infrastructure and other sectors. The parties also discussed the participation of Saudi companies in privatisation in Ukraine.

In the coming days, the delegation will hold dozens of meetings to prepare for President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's visit to Saudi Arabia.

"Saudi Arabia actively supports Ukraine. They have allocated USD 500 million to support Ukraine's recovery. They help both in humanitarian and economic terms, working with Ukrainian companies. Today, we can illustrate the call to ‘invest in Ukraine without waiting for the war to end’ with very specific businesses from Saudi Arabia. For example, FAS Energy, which has invested in renewable energy in Ukraine. Or SALIC, which last September became a co-owner of one of Ukraine's largest agricultural holdings, MHP, by acquiring a 12.6% stake in the company. I am immensely grateful to all those companies that demonstrate leadership and the fact that it is possible and necessary to invest in Ukraine now," said Yuliia Svyrydenko.

The First Deputy Prime Minister thanked Saudi Arabia for supporting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine and noted the increased level of cooperation between the two countries.

During the meeting, the Ukrainian side briefed the Saudi business on the current economic situation in Ukraine, the investment opportunities that Ukraine currently offers to foreign investors, and the solutions that our country is implementing to create and maintain a favourable investment climate.

Potential investors were told about support programmes for projects with significant investments, tools for the development of industrial parks, and war risk insurance.

The business forum included a series of workshops where the participants learned about investment projects in infrastructure, agriculture, energy and real estate.

"I strongly believe that we have prospects for even more active attraction of investments from the Middle East. Today, we have seen significant interest in infrastructure projects, energy projects, proposals in the field of innovation, agribusiness, especially fertiliser production, where Saudi Arabia has expertise. Joint efforts are already yielding results, albeit in small steps. Exports to Saudi Arabia increased from USD 291 million in 2023 to USD 368 million in 2024. We expect growth this year as well. We have not yet reached the pre-war levels, but I hope that we will manage to achieve this and that such business forums will contribute to it," added Yuliia Svyrydenko.